Mehsud running “Toyota-type” assembly line of child suicide bombers: Report

October 2nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban militants are planning to carry out suicide bombings across Pakistan to avenge the death of their chief Baitullah Mehsud who was killed by the security forces in April, a media report said citing intelligence sources. Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack in South Wazirisitan.

August 24th, 2009 WANA - A commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Monday said his organisation will select a new chief in the next five days according to the instruction of their leader Baitullah Mehsud, a media report said. Waliur Rehman, commander of the group in South Waziristan, said: We have thousands of suicide attackers, who can destroy their (government) targets anywhere.

July 31st, 2009 MINGORA - The four teenage boys who were abducted by the Taliban to be trained as suicide bombers have revealed their harrowing experience during the captivity of the militants. Security officials presented the boys before the media where they revealed the atrocities that were meted out to them by the extremists.

July 23rd, 2009 LAHORE - At least three explosive laden vehicles have entered Punjab and may target important installations in the province. The Pakistan Interior Ministry has received intelligence inputs that two Toyota Corollas and a pick up van have been sent to the province to attack high value targets, The Daily Times reports.

July 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Security officials have arrested a cleric of a madrassa in Nurpur Thal village of Buland District on charges of imparting terror training to teenage boys and converting them into suicide bombers. According to sources, a madrassah organizer, Muhammed Rafeeq brainwashed youths and then send them to terror training camps based in the tribal areas.

July 8th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan, for the first time has admitted that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud is virtually running a factory of suicide bombers, and using small children for the purpose. The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesperson, Major General Athar Abbas said that Mehsud buys and sells children as young as 11 years old to be used as suicide bombers to strike strategic locations across the country.

July 5th, 2009 KABUL - A terrorist who allegedly recruited Afghan children to serve as suicide bombers has been taken into custody, US officials said Sunday. The arrest was made south of the Afghan capital of Kabul.

July 4th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan intelligence agencies have warned that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud may target Chinese nationals in the country, as he has dispatched disabled teenage suicide bombers for the purpose. The Interior Ministry has issued a circular warning to all the concerned authorities about the threat.

July 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is buying children as young as seven years old to carry out suicide bombing, the Online news agency said citing reports Thursday. The price for a child bomber is between $7,000 and $14,000, a Pakistani official requesting anonymity said.

June 19th, 2009 LAHORE - The Taliban has dispatched three suicide bombers to carry out attacks in Islamabad and Lahore, it has been revealed. According to the Daily Times, one of the would-be suicide bombers, who was arrested earlier this month, has disclosed that the Taliban had sent two suicide bombers to Lahore and one to Islamabad to strike at important locations of the two cities.

June 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A militant leader who broke away with Pakistan's Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud has accused him of killing former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a media report said Friday. Haji Turkistan Baetani, former right-hand man of Mehsud, claimed that Mehsud had planned the assassination of Bhutto.

April 26th, 2009 RAWALPINDI - Security has been beefed-up here following intelligence reports about two suicide bombers trying to enter the city. According to a senior police official, two out of six suicide bombers could enter Rawalpindi, and the remaining four could trigger suicide blasts in Karachi.

April 24th, 2009 Petraeus: Tunisian militants attacking IraqWASHINGTON — The top U.S. military commander in the Mideast says attacks in Iraq will continue for some time, and they may be the work of a network of foreign fighters from Tunisia.

April 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban is recruiting children and teenagers in Pakistan to transform them into suicide bombers to carry out deadly attacks across the country, in which scores of people have been killed in the recent past. According to a report in the Daily Times, at least 5000 child suicide bombers aged between 10 to 17 years have been trained by the Taliban till now, and are waiting to strike at the orders of their masters.

April 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Taliban have threatened that they would 'carry out two bombings a week within Pakistan' in retaliation to the US drone attacks. Hakimullah Mehsud, a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud who is the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, said in a telephone interview Sunday that the Taliban were responsible for the suicide attacks in Pakistan's Islamabad and Chakwal, the New York Times reported.